DOLLMAKER-C

St. Cyr & Kohler #6

by J. Robert Janes

Struggling to fight everyday crimes under the 1943 Occupation despite the news from the naval front lines, French SvretT Nationale Jean-Louis St-Cyr and Hermann Kohler of the Gestapo struggle to solve a shopkeeper's murder, for which a politically connected heir to a doll manufactory is accused.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, France, Historical Fiction, Fiction

258 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

J. Robert Janes is a mystery author best known for writing historical thrillers. Born in Toronto, he holds degrees in mining and geology, and worked as an engineer, university professor, and textbook author before he began writing fiction. In 1992, Janes published Mayhem, the first in the long-running St-Cyr and Kohler series for which he is best known. These police procedurals set in Nazi-occupied France have been praised for the author’s attention to historical detail, as well as their swift-moving plots.

Reviews

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I believe this is the sixth in a series about these two unlikely detective companions. I like the aura of mystery and hidden truths that the novel manages to keep up till the end. The suggestive atmosphere of the prehistoric megaliths adds to the sense of foreboding. I must admit that it was not always easy to follow what was going on because the story does get rather complicated at times, but then again this is a murder mystery investigation, so I suppose that is totally in order.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dollmaker is the sixth in the thought-provoking series featuring Jean-Louis St-Cyr, a Vichy France policeman, and Hermann Kohler, a member of the German Gestapo, as a police team operating in Occupied France in the 1940s. In this book, it’s 1943 and they travel to coastal Brittany to investigate the murder of a shopkeeper. The accused is a highly-regarded U-boat captain.

The events surrounding the murder are related slowly – this is not a quick read – and the motives and eventual solution are complex and nuanced.

I picked up Dollmaker at a library sale without reading any other books in the series so I was at a bit of a disadvantage regarding the relationship between St-Cyr and Kohler but not enough to spoil the reading. I am certainly going to look for more in this series.

[John R. Goyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A promising new series I'm starting - in the middle... complex and interesting characters and a writing style that's good but keeps the reader paying attention by changing storylines with little to no warning, along with internal thoughts being thrown around randomly. Lots to appreciate here.

[Pamela Eddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard to track characters--wish I had read some of the prior books first.

[Cerisaye · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you have been following this series in order as I have then you will know what to expect from the sixth book, another complicated case slowly unravelled by Chief Inspector Jean-Louis St Cyr of the Sûreté and partner Hermann Kohler of the Gestapo.

The setting for this story is Brittany, in particular the area around Quiberon and Lorient, where I have spent quite a number of family holidays over the years, which added interest for me beyond my usual care and concern for the two detectives.

A widely detested local shopkeeper has been murdered, surrounded by the broken pieces of a porcelain doll. A much-decorated U-boat Captain, whose crew refuses to sail without him, is accused of the killing. His hobby is making dolls.

These books have a very narrow time-frame: only a few months have passed since Book One, with each story leading straight on to the next. They are very complicated and demand a lot from the reader. I suspect you either like them enough to stick with Janes' convoluted, frequently annoying, opaque writing style or you throw in the towel after one go. I have given up trying to understand finer details of the plots, preferring to sit back and see how the story affects St-Cyr and Kohler and their developing relationship, which by now, several books in, is very close indeed.

A tight work schedule means the two men have spent recent months together without any time for family or relationships. Both have complicated personal lives and by now seem closer to each other than anyone else, despite the pressures of being Occupier and Occupied. St-Cyr and Kohler arrive in Brittany straight from their previous case and the strain is starting to tell. The story touches on the terrible situation for France's Jewish population. Janes' skill using his complex fictional crime mysteries as a way to explore the historical context of the German Occupation of France is an important aspect of what keeps me coming back to this series despite its difficulties. That, and I love St-Cyr & Kohler, and their devotion to each other.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book in the series that has a more conventional format, a crime with a motivation. In the previous entries in the series, bizarre and gruesome ruled. This book is set in an area with stone formations,several of which are mentioned by name, so it was enjoyable to look them up on the internet while reading to get immersed in the story.